Andy Mast

Passion with Pencil… offering simplicity and peace.

We are pleased to offer both Limited and Open Edition prints of Andy’s work here at the Gallery.

Andy Mast was born in 1991, and raised in rural southern Illinois within an Amish community where strong beliefs and faith are taught and practiced as a way of life. His lifestyle and upbringing directly influence his artwork. His preference to the raw medium is born from living a simple life on the farm where he is most familiar with the simple blessings in life.
But his love for a simple life abruptly ended when he was 17. Andy suffered a serious head injury while walking one of their horses to pasture on their family farm. Although it remains unclear how the accident happened, the results were devastating. Through his dark time, drawing became a sanctuary. His talent became a refuge and solace, providing him a way to both express his despair and see hope beyond it. Andy’s health has been restored for which he is very thankful.
Andy has had no formal training or art education. By exercising his “God-given” talent, he found a purpose through his life-changing experience, to become an artist of hope. He desires to bring his viewers courage, peace and hope through his art.
The young artist has successfully exhibited his work across the country. He has won multiple awards for his art, including first place in the Old West Museum’s Western Spirit Art Show & Sale in Cheyenne, Wyoming, first place at Sangre De Cristo Art Guild’s summer show in southern Colorado and four successive years he won awards in the Fine Art Competition at Cederhust Center for the arts, Mt. Vernon, Illinois.
Currently, Andy lives and works out of his working studio gallery in Westcliffe, Colorado.

Artist Statement:

Drawing feels like a part of me. I have been drawing all my life. Picking up my pencil brings me peace. Quietness is beautiful. Quietness is when the body rejuvenates and heals. In quiet meditation I draw best.
In today’s fast – paced modern world, it’s the ‘small and simple‘ things that inspire me. I hope that my drawings remind people of the beauty all around us and of a simpler time. It is my desire that my work may cause the viewer to pause and reflect, and therefore be spiritually or emotionally refreshed with a sense of peace. It is my wish that my work may bring hope to people and bring them closer to their own inner quietness.
I draw with pencils because they are simple and straightforward. It’s just the pencil paper and I. There is an unexplained kinship that I feel with the simplicity of my pencil. It is a very common tool everyone has used before and can relate to. The raw reality of the media is much like my lifestyle.
I hope it’s obvious to my viewers that I do not draw for Romance or Fantasy. I have been around horses my whole life and draw from real life experiences. Horses are a part of me. I draw what I know, what I Love and what’s in my heart. It is my passion that comes from the point of my pencil. I strive for a sense of harmony in my drawings by using light to express some form of spirituality or Godliness. The horses, animals and figures I represent are personal reflections . . . symbolic of my emotions . . . in which I conscientiously create their postures, facial expressions and the light in their eyes.

-Andy Mast

Featured